Admission Prices At Tracks Sweden V Britain

[Gemini 4,894]

 

 

.........New Science.......I take it you would be happy with 6 home fixtures a year then as in the Swedish model.

 

Being as BWitcher doesn't live in the UK and has only been to one meeting so far this season it would probably suit him fine. On the other hand as a regular supporter I'd hate it, but we are near enough to only having a meeting every other week here anyway.

 

Edited to add the quote as the page has turned over.

Edited August 13, 2015 by Gemini

[Ghostwalker 1,859]

Topsoil, most tracks are dedicated speedway tracks and only Gubbängen have another primary use then speedway.

 

Training tracks? I assume you mean the smaller tracks located next to or inside the regular track ?

 

They're not training tracks but 80cc tracks for speedway schools for kids and for youth speedway (85c, micro speedway and mini speedway ).

[topsoil 2,498]

Ghostwalker, yes that's what I was meaning the smaller tracks for youth speedway. Would love to see more of these spread out through Britain. One big advantage of having dedicated speedway arenas.

[racers and royals 8,745]

Where Sweden does seem to have a massive advantage over Britain is that Swedish teams have their own stadiums, none of this being dictated to by landlords when you can run, only having access to the tracks on certain days etc. All Swedish tracks seem to have training tracks.

But it would be interesting if somebody in the know could give us more background. Are these stadiums council owned, do the teams pay rent to the council, is it expensive? Do tracks get to keep all the income from the sale of food and drink within the stadiums? Do teams actively go seeking sponsorship? Are local businesses supportive of teams?

How does all of these matters compare to British tracks? Far more important in my eyes than pure attendance figures, which you will never know in Britain as figures are never released anyway.

The main difference between Sweden and Britain is that in Sweden the clubs are owned and run by the local community-mainly volunteers I would assume. The local community/town gets behind the team with sponsorship,fund-raising etc. However as Ghostwalker will confirm this hasn`t stopped quite a few Swedish clubs getting into difficulties over finance eg Lejonen,Valsarna,Vargarna and Vastervik to name 4.

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

Where Sweden does seem to have a massive advantage over Britain is that Swedish teams have their own stadiums, none of this being dictated to by landlords when you can run, only having access to the tracks on certain days etc. All Swedish tracks seem to have training tracks.

But it would be interesting if somebody in the know could give us more background. Are these stadiums council owned, do the teams pay rent to the council, is it expensive? Do tracks get to keep all the income from the sale of food and drink within the stadiums? Do teams actively go seeking sponsorship? Are local businesses supportive of teams?

How does all of these matters compare to British tracks? Far more important in my eyes than pure attendance figures, which you will never know in Britain as figures are never released anyway.

It is indeed a completely different set-up and near impossible to compare to the usual British model of a sole promoter renting a stadium commercially.

[E I Addio 15,849]

The main difference between Sweden and Britain is that in Sweden the clubs are owned and run by the local community-mainly volunteers I would assume. The local community/town gets behind the team with sponsorship,fund-raising etc. However as Ghostwalker will confirm this hasn`t stopped quite a few Swedish clubs getting into difficulties over finance eg Lejonen,Valsarna,Vargarna and Vastervik to name 4.

 

 

My understanding is that the tracks owned by the local councils have in the past been available to clubs either for free or at a minimal rent but with the economic squeeze the councils are starting to look for more rent from clubs.

 

It not all that much different is Poland where there is a recent history of clubs getting into serious financial difficulties.

[f-s-p 832]

You also have to factor in the high cost of living in Sweden.

Any facts on this on offer?

[arnieg 3,660]

Any facts on this on offer?

Probably true when we got ten kroner to the pound, but now that it's 13 I am less convinced it is (particularly if you include housing costs).

 

A corollary of the movement in the exchange rate is that the UK becomes a much more attractive place for Swedes to earn a living, think we could be seeing more Swedes in the PL.

 

e.g. Joel Larsson, Kenny Wennerstam, Mathias Thornblom, John Lindman, Frederik Engman

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

Any facts on this on offer?

Direct personal experience of consumer prices. In the south east of England the gap might be narrower these days but outside that economic bubble the difference is stark. If you want me to quote academic research this is a lame sports forum not an academic discussion!

 

If you want as pointless, petty argument I'm, sure BWitcher will be more than pleased to accommodate you.

Edited August 13, 2015 by rmc

[Ghostwalker 1,859]

The main difference between Sweden and Britain is that in Sweden the clubs are owned and run by the local community-mainly volunteers I would assume.

The local community/town gets behind the team with sponsorship,fund-raising etc. However as Ghostwalker will confirm this hasn`t stopped quite a few

Swedish clubs getting into difficulties over finance eg Lejonen,Valsarna,Vargarna and Vastervik to name 4.

 

To some extent maybe but not as much or perhaps not as unconditional as you think. I most teams will have to work very hard to get their

sponsors and Vetlanda is probably the only that don't have to worry about the economy.

 

A few amount of teams (Dackarna / Målilla MK and possibly one or two more) owns their own track, the rest of the teams rent their track.

Some teams pays more then others and I think that for Allsvenskan and Elitserien, Smederna and Vargarna pays the most rent (or lease in Vargarna's case).

 

There are advantages and disadvantages with both forms. Smederna have always rented their track and it has been both god and bad.

The bad part was when Smederna dropped out of Elitserien in 2009 due to financial problems and started over from Division 1, then one of the other clubs there expanded their small

go-cart track to a larger drifting track which have been expanded further at the cost of the size of the parking lot. Which really hurt Smederna for several seasons since

as soon as there was more then 2000 spectators, the parking wasn't big enough to handle all the cars.

 

I am very unhappy with how Joacim Heggblad and his companions were allowed to expand over the parking lot.

 

A new parking area and a smaller refurbishment of the track was made to the last seasons thanks to the city (owner) and a sponsor.

It's ok for now but improvements/expansions are needed for them to handle more then 3500 spectators.

 

The parking lot used to be over the entire area that is now covered by the darker tarmac track.

https://www.google.se/maps/place/Gr%C3%B6ndals+Motorsportomr%C3%A5de,+Eskilstuna+N/@59.4161069,16.3735138,582m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x465e8c2b12e849dd:0x1f95a70b850aec2b

The drifting track/arena have since been expanded further forcing the city to build a new road around the southern end of the track.

This aerial photo is a couple of years old since the construction of the mini racing track hadn't even started yet and it was finished this spring.